Casting and conveying apparatus.



No. 629,480. Patented July 25, i899. E. A. uEHLmG & J. w. MILLER.CASTING AND. CONVEYING APPARATUS.

(Application filed J une 30, 1897.)

6 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

s f i@ :nlumfmu No. 629,480. Y Patented Iuly 25, |899.- E. A. UEHLING &.J. W. MILLER.

CASTING AND CONVEYING APPARATUS.

6 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(Application led June 30, 1897.) N o M o d e I Llruo., wAsHmuToN D cPatented July 25, |899. E. A. UEHLING &. J. W. MILLER. CASTING ANDCONVEYING APPARATUS.

(Application led June 80. 1897.)

A (No Model.)

6 Sheets-Sheet 3.

, .5 mzwmzamy y No. 629,480. Patented luly 25, |899.

E. A. UEHLING J. W. MlLLER. GSTINGI AND CONVEYING APPARATUS.

, (Application med :une so, 1897.) (No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 4.

. 1N; Nonms PETER: co.. PHo'ro-LITNc. wnmamu, n. c.

No. 629,480. Patented luly 25, |899. E. A. UEHLING & J. W. MILLER.

CASTING AND CONVEYING APPARATUS.

l (Application led June 80, 1897,) INU ModeI-I 6 Sheets-Shea! 5.

III'I I w 'III I I IIIIIII''. l

I l I IIl IIIII I III Nu. 629,480. Patented July 25, |999. E. A. UEHLING9 J. w. MILLER.

CASTING AND CONVEYING APPARATUS.

(Application led June 30. 1897,) :No Modem 6 Sheets-Sheet 6- TH: NonmsEvans cofmmaumo.. wAsHmarnN n c NITEI) STATES EDWARD A.- UEIILING., oFI'EwARK, NEW JERSEY, AND JAMES W.

F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

fffEEIcE.

MILLER,

CASTlNG lAN-D CONVEYING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 629,480, datd July 25,.1899' Application filed Julie 30,1897. Serial No.`642,924. illo model.)

'To tt' 'Lu/wm t may concern/,-

Be it known that we, EDWARD A. UEHLIN G,

residing in Newark,in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, andJAMES W. MIL- LER,residing in Chica go,inthe countylof Cook and State ofIllinois, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new anduseful 1897; in France, No. 283,872, filed April 23, l

Improvements in Casting and Conveying A pparatus, (for which we haveapplied for Let# ters Patent of foreign countries as follows, to wit: inGermany, No. 2,586, filed April 23,

1897; in Belgium, No; 99,010, filed April 23,

1897;. in Austria, filed April 23, 1897; in

Sweden, No. 576, led April 23, 1897, and in Russia, No. 1,795, filedApril 30, 1897;) and teriorated from its' desired condition.

we hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, andexact description thereof.

Our invention is in the nature of an iinprovement upon the apparatusdescribed and claimedin Letters Patentof theUnited States No. 548,116,granted October-15, 1895, to Edward A. Uehling, and has relation to thetreatment `of metal in a molten condition with particular reference,iii-st, to changing usefulin .the casting of pig-iron which is to beadapted for use in making foundry-castings.

The greatest evil in casting pigs ofany metal in sand molds is due tothe fact that when the metal congeals it takes up silica from .the sand,whereby the quality of the pig becomes de- The making of these sandmolds or pig-beds is troublesome and expensive, and the pigs areirregular in shape and inconvenient to handle.' Moreo\er under previousmethods ofcasting, where it has been the: practice to convey the metalsthrough runways to sows and pi glbeds, it is well known that'ihe pigsfarthest from fe1ior-in quality to those nearer to the fur' y nace, thevariation in qualitybeing much Y greaterV than should be expectedfromany variation in the action of the furnace itself. This is generallyknown to be due to the fact that the molteniron in the course of itstravel takes up impurities and changes in its char acter to a lowergrade'of metal, and the far'- ther-it travels necessarily themore'marked becomes its deterioration. After the pigs have been made andafter they have cooled they must be deported from the 'pig-bed, which isdestroyed in' the operation, and loaded upon cars for shipment, andforanew casting new pig-beds mustbe'fmade,v When it is remembered that inbasic pig it is of theutmost importance that the v percentage of siliconcontained thereinsgbe the lowest possible'and that the 'utmost' care ispracticed in smelting the ore to produce a pig thus low in silicon,it'beconies manifest that the silica ad# y heriug-to the outside' ofthepig because of the use of vsand in the pig-bed is most objectionable.bythe use of our apparatus andmethod of casting, and the pigs areuniform ,smooth, and shapely. 4

In making pig metalfor foundry purposes it is manifestlyv of the highestimportance that the carbon content of the iron shall, if possible,exceed the carbon content obtainable in the blast-furnace and 'that itsform shall be that best suited for castings. With this object in viewand to the end that this carbon vcontent'may be either increased orchanged to a form where its value in the production of foundry-castingsshall be improved it has been suggested that the iron p should be introdneed into a vessel previously charged with pulverized carbonaceous mate-This contamination by sand is avoided *Y increased or not, in such aform or,combina y.

`4'D transverse conveyer; Fig. (5a, a transverse ing the Wayofsupporting the molds.

tion that the metal is vastly superior for foundry uses, producingcastings of greatlyincreased strength and softness. It is believed thatthis process of treating the metal with carbonaceous material whilemolten produces its beneficial effect by changing the carbon or carbidsthat form the matrix or cement between the crystals of iron. In thischanged condition the carbon materially contributes to the strengtheningof the metal, at the same time vincreasing its softness to a markeddegree `and. also improving 4its elasticity and resilience. Muchdiiiiculty has been found, however, in producing iron in largequantities by the process just described, and our invention has beensuccessfu lly employed and is directed more particularly-to an apparatusby which the entire output of a furnace or any number of furnaces can besuccessfully converted into the high-class foundryiron here described.

In the drawings, Figure lis a view,diagram matic in its nature, showingin a general way the entire apparatus and the operation of it, beginningwith the tapping of ,the furnace and ending with the loading of the pigson the cars. Fig. 2 is a side 'elevation showing the apparatus forcasting and conveying the metal from the furnace to the carrierwhichleads tothe car and also showing the method of treating the metal for.improving it when the apparatus is` used for that purpose. Fig. 3 is aviewtof the conveyer which transfers the pigs fromthe molds to thecars.` Fig. et is a cross-section through the carrier, showing the frameand the supports for the'inolds. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of thecarrier, show- Fi 6Y is a view at the `end of the carrierV at tige pointwhere the metal is droppedinto the sectional View on the line x Fig. 6b,of the preferred means of supporting the molds; Fig. 6", a plan viewofone of thelinks. Fig. 7 is a plan View of 'the `box which contains therefractory or carbonaceous pulverulent material which is to4 be sprayedagainst the' molds; Fig. 8, a front ele`vation,.partly in section, ofthesame; Fig. .9,au end sectional elevationof the same. Fig. lO` is aview in side elevation of our device for cooling the center of the pigwithout cooling the molds,

which might easily he fractured it they were cooled before the mass ofiron which they contain is cooled. Fig. 1l is a front view of the sameapparatus. Fig. l2 is a view in ele. vation, Fig. 13 a View in verticalsection,

'and Fig. 14 a view in horizontal section, of a pneumatic sprayingdevice the function of which 1s to spray against the molds eithercarbonaceous material or refractory material,

depending upon whether Vthe conveyer is to be used in making a pig forfoundry purposes or a basic pig.

A indicates a blast-furnace.

B represents a ladle mounted on a truck,

operated. size and shapesuitable for 'forming thepigs,

so that it may receive the iron from the blast-l furnace and carry it tothe casting apparatus. Where the iron is to be treated for the purposeof changing or increasing its carbon,'we place ground carbonaceousmaterial in the ladle before introducing the bulk of the molten iron,and as, for many reasons, the` preferred method of doing this we coatits sides and bottom with pulverized carbonaceous material-such asgraphite, coke, or the likein such quantity asv may be necessary tobring about the desired change in the iron. The carbonaceous .materialneed not be an impalpable powder, but ought not to be too coarse. Thetime taken to carry the `ladle from the blast-furnace to the castingapparatus is en-l tirely suficient tov enable all the action that is totake place to be completed'. then the iron is already high in carbon oris suihciently treat-ed without requiring further treatment .with carbonin the ladle, this treatment may be dispensed with and the treatment inthe molds, presently described, may be found en tirely sufcient.

C represents a trough located between two carriers D` and servingtodeflect the metal poured into the trough from the tipped ladle B, sothat the metal passes tothe molds in the carriers D. Each carrier D isconstructed of links i, the ends ofwhich are connected in endless`relation by axles the ends of which have loose flanged wheels s,running on rails s outside of the links. The rails are secured in asupporting structure so that the hanged wheels will be supported alike`on the under and traveling sidesof the endless mold-carrier,`while thecarrier is `n'laintain'ed inposi- `tion uponthe support-ing structurebya suitable drunt mounted in each end of the structure. Therespectivedrum-shafts at the` delivery ends of the mold-carriers areconnected by `suitablemechanism with an engine, by which ei'ther'or bothof the carriers canbe The molds or buckets E are of a and they are fixedby means of lugs on their ends to the links, so that each mold is causedto turn overat the end ofthe carrier to deliver the pig and to bring the`upper `side of the mold down in its travel back to thel spout,

where the open side of the mold is again turned uppermost to beagainfilled with metal. It will thus be understood that when theopeu side ofthe mold is up ittravelsforward, conveying the molten metal to the pointof delivery, and as the mold travels back in the endless movement of thecarrier, havingbeen heated Aby the hot iron which it previouslycontained, it is` at the proper point in Vits travelsprayed withcarbonaceous material, if

IOO

IIO

a foundry pig is to be made, or with a basic refractory material, if abasic pig is to he made. The moldsare of peculiar construction, beingmade of cast-iron and formed so as to present at one side an.upwardly-curved lip r, adapted to overhang the side r ofthe 629,480 l l1s.

contiguous mold, and in this manner the rear side of one mold forms alapping guard or shield over the space between the molds, and therebyprevents the metal as it is poured from the spout from falling betweenthe molds. In order that the pig may easily drop out of the mold at theend of the conveyer and also to afford as large a surface as possiblefor treating the pig with carbonaceous material,the bottom of the moldor bucket.

has the central upward projection p.

It should be stated that it is desirable that the molds or buckets Eshall be secured to the carrier in such a mannerthat incase one shouldcrack or breakitcan be readily with. drawn anda new one put in itsplace. Such a means is illustrated in detail in Figs. 6a and 6l. Withinthe wheel s is a bolt a, on. which the wheel rotates. Around-the bolt dis a bushing b, having its central portionb' somewhat thicker thantheend portions b2 to afford shoulders b3. The links t extend from wheelto wheel on each (side, being received at their ends on the bolt b. Thelinks are held firmly in place by the lock-nut c. shoulders b3 preventthe inner links from pressing against the wheel s, and the ends of thebushing b serve similarly to prevent too close contact between thelinks. Each link on the inner side of the carrier is provided with theintegral laterally-extending perforated ear d, through the hole in whicheX- tends the bolt e, which also passes through the lugfon the end ofthe mold E. By this arrangement any broken part may be readily removedand replaced.

It is of the utmost importance that the pig shall be cooled in such amanner that the mold shall not break, and it is also important that thepig shall be permitted to solidify, so that when deposited upon theconveyer or platform which `leads to thecar it will be sufficientlycooled to be carried on this platform'. In order to cool the pig withoutcooling the mold,we have contrived the apparatus shown in Figs. l0 and11. It consists of a wheel H, having large spurs H', which tit in thelinks t, so that as the carrier moves forward the links engaging thespurs H' serve to rotate the wheel H. On this wheel H and extendingtransversely from its side across the line of the molds areinverted-V-shaped deflector-plates I, these plates being in suchrelation to each other and to themolds carried by the carrier that asthe molds advance and the wheel H rotates the deflecting-plates I willcover the meeting edges of the molds and the open space between thedeflectingplates will be centrally over the center of the pig.Projecting into the space Within the series of defiector-plates I is awater-pipe K, having perforations, so that the water can come out of thepipe. It will thus be seen that while there is a constant stream of`water coming out of the pipe K and 'falling down toward the carrier thewater is defiected so.

The

of a Water-pipe L, extending longitudinally of the carrier and havingspraying-nozzles L'.

. In this way the surface of the pig-molds and the pigs therein aresprayed with water,which cools them without danger of breaking the mold.

, When the pig is conveyed to the end of the carrier and the molds passaround the drum at this end, the pigs fallout of the molds upon thetraveling platform M. The platform M travels past the end of thecarriers and down through a water-trough M' and thence up to a chute M2,at which point the conveyer drops suddenly down. The pig is thustransferred to the chute and from the chute to the car which is toreceive the iron. The object of the water-trough M is to complete theneoessary cooling of the pig before it is delivered to the car. The 'carmay be placed upon a weighing-scale, so that when the necessary weightof pig metal has been deposited thereon it can be moved away and anotheroar take its place. It may be stated that while it is usual to useladles B, having a capacity of, say, fifteen tons, the capacity of thecarrier is only limited by the demand upon it, and the entire output ofa furnace contained in several ladles can be cast in a continuousoperation.

When the molds have ybeen heated and before they take a second pig intheir endless movement forward, it is necessary that they shall berecoated either with a refractory malerial or with carbonaceousmaterial. It is found that it is impracticable to eect this recoating byhand or by mechanical brushing devices; but we accom plish the operationwith unqualified success bythe use of the apparatus shown in Figs. 7, 8,9, l2, 13,*and 14. It comprises a tank N, in the bottom of which arestirring-arms N', rotated by a shaft N2, connected with the drivingpower preferably by means of aclutch. (Shown in Figi.) The upper end ofthe tank is open. This tank contains either lime and water orothervrefractory material and water or finely-dividedcarbonaceousmaterial and water, and the stirring-arms keep the mass thoroughlymixed. Leading down into the tank N, which is located immediatelybeneath the carrier, are branchesy of an air-pipe O, these branchesterminating in the crook O', and the ends enter the under Side of thebell-shaped mouth P of the spraying-pipes p'. The ends of the.

pipe O' constitute an ejector. The bell-mouth P is located'below thelevel of the mixture of refractory material and water in the tank N justabove the stirring-arms N', and the other end of the spraying-pipeP'extends above the IOO IIO

tank just below the line of the carrier being conveyed back to theladle. The air-pipe O has a cock which can be operated by hand at thetime the stirring-arms are started to rotate. The effect of theoperation is to coat the molds uniformly throughout their interior withsufcient refractory or carbonaceous material for all purposes desired.The fact that the tank is considerably wider at its upper end than themold which is being coated prevents the loss of refractory orcarbonaceous material by waste, as all that is not deposited upon thehot surface of the mold falls back into the tank.

The mold-carrier may move in a perfectly horizontal line or it may be ona higher level where it receives the iron than it is at the point whereit transfers the pig to the conveyer; but We prefer to have it move inan upward-inclined direction, so that the usual conditions oftheformation of the ground at furnaces will enable the apparatus to be putinto place without any special' topographical engineering. This is amatter, however, of slight importance when the vast economy effected bythe apparatus is taken into consideration. W'e have not gone into detailas to the kind' of engine to be used, nor as to the connection betweenthe engine and the drivingdrums, which should drive the links,and thusdrive the molds, all these being matters as to which any skilledengineer has already full information. Neither have we deemed itnecessary to show the connections for obtaining the necessary pneumaticpressure or the water-supply, as it isto be understood that any suitablesource for air-pressure and for water-supply which the furnacesurroundings present can be availed of in this connection. The conveyerwhich carries the'pig from the carrier to the car may be dispensed withand thepig deposited directly upon the car or filed and then conveyed tothe car; but in all respects we consider the arrangement shown'as thebest, as it enables us to transfer the pig metal to the point oftransportation in a period not to exceed eleven minutes from the momentthat the ladle is poured, and as this is accomplished without any manuallabor whatsoever and presents, moreover, a pig free from sand and scrudand, if desired, materiallyimproved in its quality in the matter of itscarbon content the great importance of the invention to foundrymen andto manufacturers of pig metal will be immediately apparent.

Although We have made special reference to basic pig, on the one hand,and to high-carbon pig, on the other, these are merely referred to asexamples. Pigs of any metal, as well as any kind of iron pigs, can becast and conveyed by this method and apparatus with great advantage,both in the matter of economy of handling and in the quality of product.In the mere matter of handling basic pig an approximate saving oftwo-thirds of the labor cost is eected, while the machinery itself neednot be expensive or complicated in any sense. Y

The conveyer illustrated in Fig. 3 is much to be preferred under allconditions Where the ground-space at the plant and the quantity of ironproduced in the furnace justifies its use; but it is not anindispensable feature of the apparatus. We have with entire successomitted the conveyer M and water-trough ,M' and in place thereof havecaused the pigs to be deposited from the carrier directly uponl areceiving-car of metal, the pigs having been suliiciently solidified inthe travel from the ladle to the dumping end to permit them to bereceived in this car. It is sometimes desirable to permit the subsequent,cooling of the pig to take place naturally; but we have sometimes aidedthe cooling with artificial means, such as the injection of Water intothe receiving-car. From the receiving-car the metal may be quicklyconveyed to any point-as, for instance, to a car for shipment or to themetal pile for storage.

Vhat we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The apparatus herein described for treating and casting metalcomprising, in combination, an endless conveyer, molds supported on saidconveyer to ,move therewith in one direction with the open side up andin the reverse direction in an inverted position, means for cooling thecontained metal in the movement from the receiving to the discharge endof the carrier, anda spray device located below the line of movement ofthe molds on their return to the receiving end and means forautomatically operating it coincidently with the movement of the moldsto spray against said molds while in a heated condition, a coating ofpulverulent material, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus for treating and casting metal, the combination withan endless carrier and molds supported thereon and adapted to receivethe cast metal as it is discharged from the furnace, mixer or ladle, ofa waterpipe having a fixed relation to the upper line of movement of thecarrier, and a rotating wheel carrying spray-deflecting plates, saidWheel arranged to rotate with the movement of the carrier, andsaidspray-deflecting plates arranged to cover and protect the meeting edgesof the molds, whereby the watery for cooling the pig is deiiected to thecenter of the casting, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus for casting metal, the combination with an endlesscarrier and with the molds carried thereby in a manner to present theiropen face upward on the outward movementand downward on the returnmovement, of means for cooling the center of the pig without cooling themold, comprising a IOO rotating wheel carrying deflecting-plates, saidwheel having means for moving it in unison with. the carrier, and saiddeflecting-plates operating to cover the meeting `edges of the IOO thencooled throughout before its discharge from the carrier, all as setforth.

EDWARD A. UEHLING.` JAMES W. MILLER. Witnesses lto signature of EdwardA. Uehling:

OTTO E. TRAUDT, JOHN FISCHER. Witnesses to signature of James WgMiller:

M. J. FROST, R. T. SPENCER.

